Is Online Streaming Killing the Music Industry?

We’re living in the digital age of everything. Online streaming for music, movies, shows, gaming, literature and all other forms of art is arguably the most popular form of consuming content and culture for younger generations. The popularity of streaming has recently become a hot topic of debate and contention for many artists as well as consumers, questioning whether online streaming is killing the music industry.

Spotify, amongst other streaming platforms, has become a target for hardcore criticism, due to its low remuneration for artists. However, with the slow rise of analogue and physical media, there is much polemic about the evolution and future of music.

There are two sides to any coin. With algorithm based platforms and streaming services, everyone gets a shot at attaining online attention. A music analyst, Rick Beato, explained for the Headphonesty magazine that mass media of the 20th century produced cultures: genre and style-defined eras that were delineated by singular music movements. We think of the 2000s, we think of pop, 90s connote punk and grunge, and so on until the beginning of time. The kind of music that refined an era of a time was pushed by major labels that controlled heavily the output of music but also the amount of media coverage and publicising that artists or albums received.

With online streaming, this tradition faded away, rapidly. He goes on to explain, “Whether you’re Taylor Swift or a kid making beats in their bedroom, you’ve got a shot at finding your audience. This means no single style of music can take over the way rock or pop once did”. Musical preferences are not so much limited to major labels and their trends anymore, we now have the opportunity to continuously branch out. We can find our own communities and social groups in fandoms, build playlists based on moods and genres, discover sounds of all generations, cultures and languages, and never feel alienated by the system, because there is no singular sonic movement that needs to be adhered to. Anyone making music has the opportunity to find an ear that will listen, regardless of the genre they produce.

On the other side of this same coin, then, there is an issue of mass production and mass consumption. There is a constant over-flow of content production thrown at us from every angle of the internet. The competition is huge. The memorability of artists and their craftsmanship falters. TikTok and other short form content grabs people’s attention for 30 seconds to a minute, and then gets lost in the endlessly expanding universe of the internet, and we can’t recall a single thing we consumed during our time online. Musicians are in a constant battle for attention online, pitting themselves against one another, and the rivalry is only growing. BBC News confirms that the competition is a very real issue for many artists, stating, “The UK’s competition watchdog has found streaming has made the music industry challenging for many artists.”

Platforms add fuel to the fire, some requiring additional paid access for deluxe albums whilst others leave all albums open for consumption for just the monthly subscription. Eamonn Forde made a brilliant analogy for Louder magazine, comparing the music industry to George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “Sadly, in a time of apocalypse, rather than everyone band together for the greater good, a toxic survival instinct starts to kick in, like the twisted end of Animal Farm where all animals were deemed equal but some decided they were more equal than others.”

The ongoing Spotify controversy, who pays $0.003-$0.005 per stream, is only one amongst many others. Subscriptions that consumers pay only marginally make it to the artists’ wallets, and that also gets split between their management and partners. As if growing competition and fight for online attention is not enough, musicians are now put off by the low pay in the domain. The products that they produce aren’t being fairly paid for. Many musicians, even with gigs and concerts, can barely make ends meet and pay their rent. BBC quotes, “The best songs are yet to be written – but if they aren’t being fairly compensated, too many very talented people will be forced to quit.”

It may not all be bad news, however. The song of the future is not written in all minor chords. There’s a cultural shift that we are slowly witnessing these past couple of years, but even more so this summer. People are slowly resigning from their social media accounts, apps and platforms, choosing analogue media over digital content. Flip phones are back, digital cameras replace Iphone cameras, cinema trips are preferred over Netflix binge watching, people get photos printed and buy more polaroid film, within the aim to consume physical, analogue content and to make things meaningful and sentimental again, all of which impacts the companies that produce the various content. As people’s engagement online decreases, the consumption of said content will slowly decrease, and as Vox quotes, “[…] offering a print newsletter is a smart business decision, because capturing attention online is bound to get only more challenging.” 

I, myself, have slowly participated in these shifts and there are a countless number of YouTube videos, articles and Substack essays about this new cultural shift, so I will not divulge into the sociological phenomenon behind this, although I do recommend looking into this, but we are witnessing the same for music content consumption. MP3s, Ipods, vinyls, CDs, cassettes etc, are slowly regaining their popularity for the first time in decades. An article by MonotypePressing analyses sales statistics for various analogue media, even going as far to compare today’s sales against the 80s and 90s statistics, when the music industry ran solely on analogue. 

The article analyses throughout: “According to the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) annual revenue report, vinyl records outsold CDs in the US last year for the first time since 1987, selling 41 million units against 33 million for CD […] Vinyl record sales have consistently increased over the last 16 years, accounting for 71 percent of all physical music format revenue, as reported by the RIAA […] In a surprising twist, audio cassettes have made a noteworthy resurgence akin to vinyl’s comeback. Just like vinyl records pressing, cassette duplication services have experienced increased demand”. 

The music industry may not be doomed to failure after all. The younger generations are choosing so many ‘vintage’, ‘old school’ or simply analogue apparatus that artists might be able to rely on to keep making revenue for the music that they produce. There’s still a long way to go for any major visible improvement, but we seem to slowly be making steps in the right direction. Analogue media is only one of those steps, perhaps the next is to demand streaming applications to pay fair wages for the artists and producers behind the products that they sell to consumers.

I am lucky enough to have a brother who happens to produce techno music. He’s been producing and releasing his songs for about a year now, all of it available on Soundcloud under his stage name NOMZIS. I asked him what he personally thought of the music industry of today’s day and age and here’s what he had to say: “Music streaming made music extremely accessible today. We get to discover songs, genres, artists and more. We get to form our preference and style; we get to pick our favourites and it’s easier to book those concert tickets, with everything being only a couple of taps away. For the consumer side of the industry, it’s limitless access to music at all times.”

After having asked him what it’s like behind the scenes, he responded: “For the creative side of the industry, it’s an effortless advertisement and promotion.” To sum it up, he personally believes that streaming music online is in fact doing the opposite of killing music and the creativity that goes behind it all, it’s making things grow and expand instead. “As an underground music producer,” he says, “I have had the privilege to experience the beauty of streaming music. It gave me the ability to research for inspiration, helped me find unrecognised artists who are incredibly talented, and most importantly, it gave me a chance to share my work with people who then have become my inspiration to continue exploring sounds, styles, genres. Don’t get me wrong, the experience of going to a vinyl store and browsing for underground artists is irreplaceable but streaming music online has made it significantly more effortless”. 

There is no right or wrong answer to this question – every single person we talk to will have a different opinion based on their personal experience within the industry or as the consumer of its products. There are multiple factors to take into account, so whether the music industry is dying because of streaming is solely up to us as individuals to decide.

Article by Rozalia Lewandowska

Sources

Zoë Bernard, The perfect escape from our online world, Vox, 2024
From vinyl to flip phones, why analog technology is making a comeback | Vox

MonotypePressing, The Digital Era vs. Physical Media: Did Streaming Kill the Music Industry?

The Digital Era vs. Physical Media: Did Streaming Kill the Music Industry? – MonotypePressing

Eamonn Forde, Is Spotify killing the music industry?, Louder, 2015
Is Spotify killing the music industry? | Louder

Isobel Asher Hamilton, Did Streaming Kill the Music Industry, The Daily Upside, 2024
Did Streaming Kill the Music Industry? – The Daily Upside

Junica Bunales, Music Analyst Claims Streaming Has Killed Genres and Music Eras, Headphonesty, 2025
Music Analyst Claims Streaming Has Killed Genres and Music Eras | Headphonesty

Shiona McCallum, Music industry as tough as it always has been, watching says, BBC News, 2022
Music industry as tough as it has always been, watchdog says – BBC News

Are we being priced out of festivals?

The question of whether we are being priced out of festivals is a very wide one, entangled with problems of capitalism, property rights, right to compensation, ethics of culture etc. Just as many factors are to consider when we ask ourselves this question, there will also be as many, if not more, answers. Ranging from producers to singers, dance performers to light technicians, audience members to skeptics, everyone will have their five cents to put in. Amidst the arguing we’d hear between all of these parties, most statistics and observations available out there point to the same conclusion. Festival prices are becoming increasingly expensive, music enjoyers increasingly disappointed and festivals themselves consequently, shutting down.

A This is Money article shines a light on the current situation: “The cost of Glastonbury Festival tickets has risen by £75 in just two years; Music fans now spend an average of £470 on festivals each year; Some 50 events have been cancelled this year as people can’t afford the tickets”, following up that many more festivals are to face the same fate in the upcoming decade. So, as it seems, the answer is most likely yes. We are priced out of festivals. And live music events in general; tying back to my article about the death of the music industry from July, concerts are artists’ another point of income, thus the shutdown of live music threatens the industry from yet another angle.

Since the 1700s, when British courts passed a law à propos rights to written work under the name of The Statute of Anne, music has become a commodity.

Simon Napier-Bell begins his book describing this law to clarify that “this is how America got started in the music business. It was a British colony. And when it won the War of Independence it kept the copyright law Britain had given it. What pushed the industry forward was not so much the public’s love of music, or the musicians’ love of playing and writing it, but the music publishers’ desire to make money from it. Eventually, it was America that turned music into a multi-million dollar industry”. 

These copyright laws have troubled the architects of art and culture as well as its consumers probably since their creation. The topic of low and high culture has been heavily criticised. But the commodification and capitalisation of culture in general is, at least in my very own opinion, corrupt. Many people have begun writing and producing essays discussing piracy, especially in the gaming, movie and series sectors, arguing that it might not actually be as immoral as it’s made out to be (although I do not encourage piracy), since culture, art, knowledge, entertainment and imagination should not be limited only to those who can afford it. They are all essential to the development of the human mind and are ways through which we express ourselves and grow.

Psychologists and scientists have studied the activity of the human brain, revealing that looking at, studying and producing art can increase blood flow “in a certain part of the brain by as much as 10%”, it develops early visual processing, “the emotional response to art is mediated by limbic structures, particularly the amygdala and insular leading to physiological changes such as increased heart rate and skin conductance”, activates the cerebellum which improves our skill acquisition and motor skills, and so much more.

More interestingly, Noizz.pl reveals to us a recent study done by the O2 company alongside a behaviourist from Goldsmith University, Patrick Fagan. The study illustrated that regular concert going can increase the life span by 9 years. Seems absurd, and yet it’s totally possible. According to this study, after just 20 minutes at a concert, our mood gets boosted by about 21%, compared to 10% that’s gained during yoga or 7% when walking your dog. There’s existing evidence to suggest that our ‘happy hormones’ can extend our life span by decreasing stress and improving our overall satisfaction with life. 

Music and art is thus not just entertainment that should be made a commodity pushed for financial gain. The rising rates of concert and festival tickers are simply depriving people from things they enjoy most and, as it seems, potential things that benefit their health and well-being. But the owners and organisers of live music events are driving prices up alongside inflation, since the goal is to make the most profit imaginable. The music industry is a money-making machine that unfortunately prioritises revenue over the concept of sharing art and culture to the world and the creators love for doing so. Music enjoyers have more and more expenses each year, having to sacrifice their pastimes for things necessary, like bills, food, education and transport.

The base price for a live music event is determined by two factors, as Pops and Hisses breaks it down: “What the profit margin is going to be (a.k.a. what the artist is going to get paid) as well as production costs. Artists (and their management) play with these numbers to hit a sweet spot between making sure everyone gets paid and determining a number fans will pay to see a show.” Then there’s all the additional fees that will go towards venues, services etc., etc.

Ticketmaster has been one of the ticket-selling platforms under fire most often recently, due to its system of pricing tickets based on demand but also being one of the platforms that does not list such fee prices, instead advertising an all-in-one pay system. The Standard dives more precisely into how this structure works, but long story short, the Ticketmaster website often matches the resell ticket prices, driving their value up by much more than they are originally being sold for. While Ticketmaster defends their system by explaining that it’s beneficial for “touting”, fans are not so convinced, since artists can tout for themselves and the side effects can actually lead to “prices of tickets doubling”. At the end of the day, Ticketmaster is the one going home with all of the surplus gain, making its average annual income of over $20 billion.

Many people might begin asking questions whether festivals are worth paying a significant amount for, risking that it might leave them dissatisfied. Travel, accommodation, food and security are all things to be considered when going away for a festival that lasts over an entire weekend, sometimes even longer. Whilst the budget is growing smaller, the demands of festival-going are growing bigger. Festivals can also be a very underwhelming experience; weather is unpredictable, especially in the UK, crowds can be extremely overwhelming and unpleasant, and the general atmosphere disappointing. I know from personal experience how jarring it is to be amongst a bad crowd during a couple-hour concert, so I cannot imagine how frustrating it could be during a longer event that’s cost someone triple (or more) that money.

In the article above I also discussed the polemic around streaming killing the industry and artists being paid unfairly from streaming services, so lest we forget, the artists on the other side of this coin should be compensated for the work, time and effort they put into such events, and festivals can pay up to as much as $10 million per one night of performing. Whether that’s necessary or not, I should not be the one to say, although it is a shocking amount of money. I’m neither an expert on economy, politics or finance but there should be a way around this to make sure festivals and their value are fair game for everyone, and the way around this is probably to hold businesses, participants and event organisers accountable for the money they make off of everyone attending. Again, I’m no authority in this domain, however, Yungblud is one of the artists that seems to be getting the right idea. Although he’s not the only one in the game that’s currently trying to change its rules – anyone else remember the iconic 1993 Kurt Cobain reaction to hearing about Madonna’s concert ticket price? – he’s one of the more significant ones I personally heard of.

In 2024, Yungblud announced a new music festival. He revealed his new festival plans, BludFest, during one of his London gigs to a small crowd of people who attended, explaining that the festival and music industry needs to be “shaken up”. Yungblud clarifies his goal in Sky News, emphasising that he’s fed up with festivals and gigs being too expensive. “I believe that gigs are too expensive, festivals are too expensive, and I just wanted to work to create something that has been completely done by me and my team to show that, you know what? It can be done better. It can be more representative.’ Tickets for Bludfest will be £49.50 – much cheaper than the price for day tickets for some of the big festivals.”

The main page of Yungblud’s BludFest calls out proudly, “We’re back, bigger and louder than ever. Bludfest 2025 isn’t just a festival—it’s a movement, a family, and a space where individuality thrives. This year, we’re breaking boundaries, smashing genres, and turning up the energy. No pretentious nonsense, no corporate bollocks-just raw, unfiltered creativity, music, and community. This is YOUR Bludfest. OUR Bludfest. Let’s make it legendary.”

The whole “no corporate bollocks” is how the BludFest music festival has been a huge step in the right direction made by Yungblud and his team. He’s a very important figure in the younger generation of music makers, because of his in-depth understanding and grasp of the industry, and his immense willingness to change things around – the point is to make music a passion and craft that deserves to be shared with everyone – that everyone deserves to enjoy completely unconditionally, rather than a corporate, money-fuelling machine. Just as with streaming services, festivals and concerts have a long way to go in order to improve everyone’s experience, but Yungblud has been one of those glimmers of hope that fill me with great optimism for the future of music and art in all formats. He and his team have indeed proven that things can be more accessible and representative. The participants and organisers of the event get paid for their work and time, and the tickets are sold at a reasonable price. Although there’s probably much work to be done for both Dominic and his personal management, it seems like a win-win situation.

If Yungblud can do it, so can the rest of us, we just have to start making progress towards a less materialistic and capitalistic reality. Right now, gigs are threatened by the consequences of their own greed-filled actions, music enjoyers are being priced out of tickets and deprived of their fun, so we need collective effort to turn some tables around. Once again, I would like to leave anyone reading this with a positive impression of the progress that’s being made in the business. One musician after another, the game can be transformed into something completely new and refreshing. A utopia might be a fairytale world we can only find in books and movies, but what would it hurt to try and make things a little bit more ideal?

Sources

Simon Napier-Bell, Ta-ra-ra-boom-dee-ay: The (Dodgy) Business of Popular Music, Random House UK Publishers, 2014

Harvey Dorset, How eye-watering £470 cost of attending festivals is pricing out younger music fans, This is Money, 2024

How eye-watering £470 cost of attending festivals is pricing out younger music fans | This is Money

High costs leaving festivals ‘struggling to survive’, BBC News, 2024
Rising costs leaves music festivals ‘struggling’, organisers say – BBC News

Renee Phillips, Art Enhances Brain Function and Well-Being, The Healing Power of Art & Artists, 2015
Art Enhances Brain Function and Well-Being

How Art Affects the Brain, California Learning Research Network, 2025
How Art Affects the Brain – California Learning Resource Network

Szymon Aksienionek, Chodzenie na koncerty wydłuża życie nawet o 9 lat. Potwierdzają to badania, Noizz, 2018
Chodzenie na koncerty wydłuża życie. To potwierdzone naukowo – Noizz

Why are music festivals so expensive? And how to keep costs down this summer., Kent Online, 2025

Why are music festivals so expensive? And how to keep costs down this summer.

Ticketmaster revenue, Zippia
Ticketmaster Revenue: Annual, Quarterly, and Historic – Zippia

BludFest
BludFest

Kevin Coffey, What are all these Ticketmaster fees? And how do I avoid paying them?, Pops and Hisses, 2025

What are all these Ticketmaster fees? And how do I avoid paying them? – Pops and Hisses

Annabel Rackham, Tickermaster demand-based pricing system criticised, BBC News, 2022
Ticketmaster demand-based pricing system criticised – BBC News

Lowenna Waters, How does Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing work?, The Standard, 2022
How does Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing work? | The Standard

Brian Clark, How Much do Artists Get Paid for Festivals?, Musician Wave, 2022
How Much Do Artists Get Paid for Festivals? – Musician Wave

Gemma Peplow, Yungblud announces Bludfest – his own festival aimed at ‘shaking up’ the ‘too expensive’ industry, Sky News, 2024
Yungblud announces Bludfest – his own festival aimed at ‘shaking up’ the ‘too expensive’ industry | Ents & Arts News | Sky News

Article by Rozalia Lewandowska

for Musik Magazine 2025 Emelodious Collective Part 3